Making the Point: CORE 24 Matters
By maureen on 15 Jul |
2 comments
Despite initially strong support for the Board’s CORE 24 graduation requirement proposal, the Board finally faced criticism from several educator groups who cautioned that the Board was moving too fast in their work and that the system isn't ready for the demands of increased science, math and arts requirements. They also noted the shortage of necessary high school counselors to help students navigate the increased number of required credits.
These critiques of CORE 24 are not entirely invalid, but when you consider Washington ranks 41st in the nation in terms of the number of credits it requires for its students, demanding more from our system doesn’t seem that outlandish. Additionally, the Board has speculated that CORE 24 will likely not be fully implemented until 2016, which will give school districts time to plan for schedule changes, increased staff and course capacity.
Finally, the issue of counselors. Chris Korsmo (the always fabulous and frequently wing-tip-wearing executive director of the League of Education Voters) made the fantastic point that, if CORE 24 is properly implemented, students won’t have to rely as heavily on counselors to figure out what courses they need to graduate prepared for further training. Why? ALL students will be automatically enrolled in the necessary courses. This would especially help poor and minority students who have traditionally been counseled out of rigorous classes.
Lorilyn Roller, the State Board of Education’s Student Rep, supported this point when she noted that, in her conversations with summer school students struggling to graduate on time, many said a credit framework like CORE 24 would have helped them avoid needing summer school and remediation.
The State Board of Education will make their recommendations on CORE 24 next week. Stay tuned, folks. Hopefully, it won’t be bumpy ride.
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I left yesterday’s State Board of Education Meaningful High School
Diploma work session slightly disheartened—and it wasn’t what I ate for lunch.
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Making sure students don't end up as roadkill...
Thanks for your comment, nosnebnhoj. I agree the structure of many, many schools needs to be changed and Washington state is currently looking for ways to make the "gravel road" less, well, gravelly. This includes the Professional Educators Standard's Board plan to increase the number of qualified teachers in Washington--particularly in high shortage areas like math and science, and potentially through differential compensation.
The 2009 legislative session could bring even more positive augmentations to school structure, including an increased focus on principal leadership--which is so desperately needed to implement the new grad reqs.
In any case, like I said, the new requirements will likely not take full effect until 2016--this should give schools at least a decent chunk of time to prepare and make any necessary adjustments.
CORE 24